Cyclones to Make Three ESPNU Appearances in 2014

Courtesy: cyclones.com

Release: 07/07/2014

Related Links

More from Cyclones.tv

AMES, Iowa – The Iowa State volleyball team will be making three appearances on national TV in 2014, the Big 12 Conference announced Monday afternoon. The Cyclones will have three matches on ESPNU, all conference match-ups, and all from Hilton Coliseum.

ISU’s match against Oklahoma originally scheduled for Oct. 11 is being moved to Oct. 12 and will start at 1 p.m. The Cyclones’ match-up against Kansas on Oct. 22, originally scheduled for 6:30 p.m., will be moved up to 6 p.m. to accommodate the ESPNU timeslot. The Big 12’s premier volleyball rivalry, Iowa State vs. Texas, which was originally scheduled for Nov. 1, has been moved to Nov. 2 and will start at 1 p.m. All times are Central Time.

2014 will mark the fifth consecutive season that the Iowa State volleyball program will be featured among ESPNU’s college volleyball broadcasts. Three of the previous four seasons have had ESPNU visit Ames for a match, giving the Cyclones the chance to show off its match-day environment to a national audience.

The Cyclones’ sweep of Oklahoma on Nov. 9 of last season was Iowa State’s highest-attended match of the season as 3,707 watched Iowa State avenge an early-season loss against the Sooners in Norman. OU advanced to the second round of the NCAA Championship before eventually falling to No. 3 Stanford in Palo Alto, Calif. The Sooners finished 2013 24-8 and tied for third in the Big 12 with Iowa State at 11-5.

Iowa State and Kansas also split their season series last season, but with both squads winning on each other’s court. One of the best matches of the Big 12 season took part in Lawrence, Kan. last season as Iowa State was able to out-last No. 23 Kansas in five sets. A month later, KU was able to get one back on ISU with a four-set win in Ames. The Jayhawks made their first Regional Semifinal appearance in 2013, finishing with a 25-8 record with a 12-4 Big 12 mark.

Texas made it to the National Semifinals last season, finishing with a 27-3 mark overall and an undefeated 16-0 mark in the Big 12. UT’s best shots in Big 12 play came from the Cyclones, as ISU was the only Big 12 school to take a set off the Longhorns in each meeting. Texas’ last loss in Big 12 play came against the Cyclones in Hilton Coliseum late in 2012, when ISU took down the Longhorns in five sets.

Iowa State’s remaining 11 home matches, including the season-opening AVCA Showcase matches against Stanford and Florida State and the Iowa Corn Cy-Hawk Series showdown against Iowa, will be shown on Cyclones.TV Powered by Mediacom. Arrangements for ISU away matches to be televised will be made by the host institutions and will be announced when finalized.

The 2014 Iowa State volleyball season opens at Hilton Coliseum on Aug. 29 at 7 p.m. against Stanford as part of the AVCA Showcase.